Wild Rose
by Xelona Metallium
Summary: Xelloss has been called to court and is set with a task he never wished to do.


Wild Rose  
  
by Xelona Metallium  
  
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Song is Terminus Est by Julia Ecklar, the slayers are the property of some rich Japanese people whose names I can't remember ^_^;  
  
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* The shadow hovers o'er us old and long  
  
* Its power full again and vast  
  
* Tradition slithers round us  
  
* Like serpents coils it's bound us  
  
* Bound us to the shadow of the torturers mask  
  
Xelloss stood before the door of the Court of the Mazoku, where mazoku who broke one of the fundamental rules of the Mazoku were judged by their superiors. Magic-blocking handcuffs adorned his wrists and several guards stood nearby to prevent his escaping by physical means. He stood, defeated, for he was guilty of breaking the rules most dear to the Mazoku.  
  
* An ancient place, the one I have and hold  
  
* An ancient lesson I do learn  
  
* Our job to slay the people  
  
* Our fate to do the evil  
  
* Pity the poor prisoners, may the tortures burn  
  
Ever since he became a mazoku, Xelloss had learned three basic rules. The Mazoku could never be kind. They existed to create chaos in the world, to destroy all the hopes of others. His mentor always punished him when he let even one small bit of hope or courage exist in a prisoner he was 'working' on. Also, the other rule young mazoku learned was to never foul up the plans of their superiors, even when those plans went against the personal plans that all mazoku have. Finally, there was the most basic rule of them all. Mazoku must never love.  
  
* We must not sway beneath our heinous work  
  
* Compassion is the greatest crime  
  
* I take one life in kindness  
  
* They damn me for my blindness  
  
* And I'll bear that stigma 'til the end of my time  
  
He still did not know how they had captured her. Lina had never been one to let her guard down. However they got her, a group of lesser mazoku had captured Lina and brought her to their lords. The plan was simple. Lina would join the side of good and make everyone trust her. Then, at the height of her power, she would miscast the Giga Slave and return all to chaos, with the added bonus of the fear that her betrayal would create. However, to get this feisty, yet powerful, sorceress to do something that cruel and so against her nature, they would have to rip out most of Lina's personality and leave the barest shell to taunt all those who knew her.... and loved her. Xelloss, though he rarely showed it, loved Lina and had loved her since the day they met. It had always seemed she was destined for another, so he loved her strength and will only from the role of observer. This time, he could not just sit back and watch them rip out what made Lina Lina while nonchalantly sipping some tea. He just couldn't. So he had teleported to her cell, where she sat, eyes looking lost. "You know what they want me to do, don't you. Xelloss, can you help me..." Her eyes slid shut as her body slowly slumped onto the ground. He went over to her and picked her up. She huddled in his arms, looking like she could never be warm. "Where do you want to go, my Lady?" he asked. "My stuff..." she murmured. "Ok, then, to the armory. That's where they usually keep confiscated items." He teleported them to the armory and set Lina down. She wandered around, looking at the blades as he kept watch for any people. Then, in one swift move, she grabbed a blade from the wall and plunged it into her heart.  
  
Xelloss' own heart shattered as he immediately went to her, catching her as she fell. He looked at her, eyes questioning why his love had so injured herself. She coughed out some blood and said "They'd find me if we ran... can't have them hurt you... never could have escaped... it's for the best...." and she slumped against his arm, lost in unconsciousness. He carefully laid her on the ground and desperately cast every healing spell he knew. He quickly went through the small selection he had little use for and kept on trying again and again. He could not lose her now that he had saved her, but there was little he could do when she wanted to die. Low- level healing spells, all he knew, required energy and a will to live from the person being healed. When the mazoku hunting Lina finally found them, Xelloss was lying over Lina's lifeless body, too tired to even look up.  
  
* Her memories haunt me when I'm lost, alone  
  
* No longer can I see the right  
  
* Unwilling penance claws me  
  
* Conciliation draws me  
  
* Into my grim future into earth's blackest night  
  
* The sword of this sad afflictor of uncounted deaths can tell  
  
* Her blade marks the division between living death and hell  
  
Xelloss looked up from the cycle of remembrance as a bell tolled the hour. It was three o'clock, the time for his trial. The massive doors that lead into the court room slowly creaked open and the guards escorted him into the room. It was a large room, with a vast wood floor and rows of seating for any spectators Sitting on a platform high above the floor on three large thrones were Dynast, Zelas, and Dolphin, the three surviving Mazoku Lords. Two other thrones sat nearby, silently telling of the loss Lina had dealt to the monster race by killing Gaav and Phibrizo. The majordomo standing at the door announced "Xelloss Metallium, Priest and General of Zelas Metallium, the Beastmaster." Xelloss was directed to a spot in the middle of the room, where he stood, waiting for the Lords to speak. He looked at the floor in shame. Somehow, he detected the faint scent of wild roses, a smell that always reminded him of Lina. A feeling that everything was fine washed over him, steadying him even as he knew the feeling was wrong. Dynast stood up and spoke to the audience. "This mazoku has been charged with breaking one of our most precious rules. He chose to kill Lina Inverse merely to hinder our plans that involved her." Xelloss looked up in surprise, though he kept his trickster's smile on his face. 'They don't know! They think I killed her, not tried to save her! They don't know I...loved her." Dynast continued, "Xelloss, are you ready to hear the sentence?" He waited for Xelloss' nod, then continued. "Good. Because your greed, though usually a good thing, cause on of our largest plans to fall through, you will have to take Lina's place in the plan. Zelas will detail the plan to you. That is all, dismissed!" Dynast sat back down. Zelas got up and beckoned Xelloss to follow her. She lead him to a side room and told him to sit on one of the chairs in the room. After she had sat down, she said, "Xelloss, why did you have to go do that? Now this plan to destroy the world will be more difficult! People as powerful as Lina are few in number and none of us mazoku could equal her at her strongest. Anyway, you'll have to go and raise up an empire somehow. It's the only way you'll have enough energy to cast the Giga Slave. At least this way we know you can't cast it right. Oh well, have to get on with it." She reached over and put her hands on his temples. Suddenly his brain was awash with knowledge: full details of the plan; how to do the Giga Slave, though it seemed... wrong to him somehow; and the knowledge that he can't stray from the plan, unless he wished to experience the pain of a million hangovers all at once. He collapsed in his chair. Zelas just looked at him, a tear silently flowing down her cheek. "Goodbye, Xelloss." He suddenly found himself sitting in a small copse of trees in the middle of a vast plain. Zelas had teleported him away, never to return.  
  
* So as I journey towards a hated post  
  
* Despair is in her final star  
  
* Upon god's path must I tread  
  
* My fate to make and raise dead  
  
* Wielding like a sword an old and earth-saving power  
  
Xelloss stood up and dusted himself off. He mentally prepared himself and created a glow around himself along with a new set of clothes. His old clothes and his staff he teleported back to his home. He walked out of the copse, floating a few inches off the grass. Standing just outside was a large group of nomads, some sitting on horses, others picking up a camp. They all stared at him as he went towards them. He smiled as he thought of how these nomads, who had never even heard of mazoku, much less seen one, would think. Here he was, a tall pale stranger, beautiful purple hair flowing around his head, with vibrant clothing all the colors of a summer sunset, glowing somehow and coming effortlessly over the grass. As he reached the camp, several nomads backed up as he neared them. He stopped just over the purely mental line that seemed to separate the camp from the plain. Xelloss spoke to them in their own language, a gentle smile on his face. "Do not be afraid, my friends. I come in peace. I am Kerros, holy angel of the Lord of the Plains. I have heard your pain, the pain that drove you from the fertile lands to the north and sent you into the plains, where you have dwelt in exile these many generations. I have been sent to tell you your exile is over. It is time to reclaim the fertile land and live as you have always been destined to live. I, the Angel of the Wild Rose, have come to assist you in that quest and to lead you!" Xelloss cringed inwardly with each lie he told, even as he cringed at how the nomads were prostrating themselves before their 'savior.' He could not go against this task he was set to, even as he only wished his life could end. There was nothing left for him in this existence, nothing to brighten his sorrow. A small scent of wild roses came to him and he could almost see Lina in the wind, trying to comfort him and tell him it wouldn't be forever, that she would be waiting in the next life. He smiled. He would get through this. He couldn't join her until this task was done, anyway. Wrapped up in his own thoughts, he barely registered the gifts the nomads were laying before his feet, gifts of food and the gift of allegiance.  
  
* If I but knew the use of what I've learned  
  
* Some hope might override my strife  
  
* Can death be so appalling?  
  
* Humanity is calling  
  
* Me to be to be their savior at the risk of my life  
  
* While I must sow the death  
  
* From which a new sun must rise  
  
Xelloss stood on the battlements of his castle. A flag bearing a wild rose fluttered in the breeze above him. The nomads were powerful conquerors and had laid half the continent before him, as a gift. More and more people came to his city each day to see the being whose might and gentleness was told of across the world, even to the continent that brought up his Lina. A small envoy from Sairuun came through the gates as he watched the long line of humanity come to pledge themselves to him. At the head of the envoy sat their Queen. 'Amelia sure has grown up, hasn't she?' he thought, 'I suppose she is my signal to start the last stage. Might as well get energy from her as she realized who I am. Won't be able to hide my identity from her, so why try?' A bell knelled out the hour, twelve long ringing notes. Time for Xelloss' daily speech to his people. He went down several floors and looked out a small window slit next to the balcony he spoke from. The massive courtyard below him was filling up quickly. Even as he watched, a small group of people carrying the flag of Sairuun worked their way to the front of the crowd, to where other delegations stood, their own flags unfurled. Xelloss waited for them to stop before he drew back from the window. Everywhere around him was the feeling of happiness, love, and expectation. It made him sad, to think of all the people he would injure when he revealed the truth. This empire of his was the greatest and most powerful on the entire planet. All thanks to him. All thanks to this plan of destruction. His newfound heart, birthed by Lina and her wonderful soul, broke under the burden. He couldn't do this, but he had to. The plan was at its fruition. Then that scent of wild roses came to him and he felt like he had been hugged by that soul he so loved and missed. Slowly, he was comforted. He put a mental barrier around his heart and drew back the curtain that covered the doorway that lead to the balcony and stepped through. Standing, three stories below him, were thousands of people, all watching him. He felt a burst of surprise from Amelia and smiled. She had recognized him. Xelloss leaned against the rail and began speaking, a spell sending his words even to the back of the crowd. "My people," he began, "It is a fine day, but I have some bad news to relate to you." Confusion washed across the crowd. "I have been living a lie," he continued, "I am not the angel of good you have been led to believe. I am a mazoku, one of the most powerful beings of that great evil. I am here to destroy the world. Goodbye." He transmuted his clothes to his normal outfit and pulled his staff out of thin air. Clouds, thick and dark, filled the sky above the city as fear and confusion spread in vast amounts. All that power in all that fear came to him. More power than he had even seen in his wildest dreams came under his power. He began the chant for the Giga Slave, but the cadence was wrong. The power he had all went into the spell which grew and grew, absorbing the life energy of all the humanity in a ten mile radius. Then, it absorbed his life force and exploded, destroying all the universe.  
  
Xelloss floated in a vast blue sea, nothingness around him. He had done what he was assigned to do and had died in the process, all his obligations melting away. He closed his eyes and curled up, ashamed of what he had done. tears streamed down his nonexistent cheeks. Then arms wrapped around him, both there and not there even as he was there and not there. He looked behind him. Lina was floating there, a smile playing across your face. "Told you you'd make it, didn't I? Anyway, let's go, L-sama promised us new lives in the universe she's been planning after all the annoyance I caused her by begging to have you with me, my love. Now, why are you smiling so evilly, Xelloss-chan? Tellmetellmetellme!" She poked his face right in front of him. He smiled even eviler and wagged his finger at her. "That's a secret!"  
  
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Author's note:  
  
.... that was fun to write. Wow. Not my usual bias, but this story's been stuck in my head. Anyway, Slayers don't belong to me. Please forgive the evil ways I torment them. 


End file.
